While waiting to take pictures at the annual Friends of the Heirloom Flowers Garden Club picnic in Fremont, Shawn Bent turned the camera toward the flora and found a little fauna — in this case, an unwelcome cucumber beetle. The beetles, which can cause quite a bit of damage in the garden, overwinter as adults. Oh well, spring is on its way. Do you have something special to share? Send it along with any details to the Times, Home & Garden, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-8099, or e-mail JPGs to jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com. Sorry, we can’t return pictures.

Joan Morris is the pets & wildlife columnist for the Bay Area News Group. She also writes about gardening and is the founder of Our Garden, a demonstration garden in Walnut Creek. Morris started her career in 1978 as a reporter for a small New Mexico newspaper. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1988.

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